Family
Last Christmas was the most untraditional yet enjoyable holiday with family I’ve had in a while. Perhaps part of it is due to my own personal growth as an adult that I feel comfortable in my own skin and am no longer as vulnerable as I was in the past. I finally have a good relationship with my brothers and feel I can trust them with anything. We still have our weird ways of communicating with each other (acerbic teasing and candid criticism), but the tone has become significantly more affectionate than harsh. My dad and I get along very well. He respects my opinions while I admire his brilliance and passion for his work. I can tell that he loves me very much since he has after all let me go my own way. Mom and I have grown into two very different people, but we’ve agreed to disagree on things.

Love
K and I have been together for a year and a half now. We have lots of fun together doing new things and starting our own traditions. He is the most generous, caring, understanding, supportive, loving man I’ve been with. I, on the other hand, admittedly, have been selfish at times and less than willing to compromise my own personal goals for the sake of our relationship. Is it really worth it to be this ambitious?

Friends
I’ve come to terms with the fact that I am not an outgoing, uber-friendly people person. I have only a handful of people whom I respect, trust and feel close with. There’s ZingIT – I love the guys! We do fun stuff together like have regular home-cooked dinners, camping and trips to New York. There’s Jason, ex-boyfriend, current mutually platonic dinner pal, who is a good person to bounce ideas off of and enjoy everything from very fine to hole-in-the-wall cuisine. Then there are my HEY / ICA friends. Though we don’t see each other except for Christmas, these are the friends who truly get me and whom
I enjoy talking to because we have so much in common.

Money
Finances were tight last year! And they continue to be so. Owning a house brought some additional unexpected monthly expenses (Taxes! Association dues!) that cut severely into my savings plan. Sadly, there were months where I’ve lived scarily above my means. On the bright side, I’ve taken on a ton of freelance web work. The supplementary income is good, but the work is terribly tough on my wrists and my free time. I’ve also become a domain and web hosting reseller which has two benefits: 1) I get to keep all my personal web accounts under one plan for free while I pay a monthly reseller fee, and 2) I can sell hosting packages as another source of income.

Career
I know for certain that I don’t want to be doing web development and IT for the rest of my life. But what will I do next? Earlier last year I put my name out there as a  potential partner to spin off the gelato business. Though I lack experience in food service, I do have other qualifications and the support of some managers and partners. But is this really what I want to do? Ought I instead start a business on my own? I also considered growing in the consulting and training arm of the business. The same questions come up: though I can co-own a business, will I be willing to be accountable to a greater group apart from myself?

For the past few years, I have repeatedly turned down persistent offers to join my dad’s company. I’ve been subject to countless guilt trips from his staff. It never gets any easier to say no. Though the company is good and the work challenging, I know I will be unhappy living in the Philippines where everything is chaotic, there are very few people I can relate with and few activities I can engage in. Here I am not my father’s daughter. I can find my own place, make my own mark, be known for my own achievements. But constantly disappointing people back in the Philippines is the price I pay for my independence and happiness.

Passion
What I truly do enjoy, always have, still do and can confidently say I always will, are books. I’ve continued deeper into fiction, being more selective about which books I read — mostly classics and literature over the current bestsellers. I’ve also branched out to more non-fiction last year — reading business, finance and sociology titles.

I’ve been actively involved in teaching in my company. I teach two finance classes a month to employees. It’s been very rewarding. In the summer I will be delivering a talk on Open Book Finance at the Mensa Annual Gathering. I’m a bit nervous but I think it’s a great opportunity to establish my expertise.

I love building organizations. In the earlier half of the year I was somewhat active in Second Life, building an online community of people interested in historical frontier life in the late 1800′s. It was a very fun endeavor. I set up an administration with clear expectations and rules. I was firm about laying out responsibilities. They are now successful and self-sufficient with their own council as a ruling body. I hardly pop in anymore except to address the few issues that come up.

Health
My arms and wrists are shot. Carpal tunnel, cubital tunnel, ulnar nerve — whatever the diagnosis is, it’s not good for a career in front of a computer. I hope to wean myself off an IT lifestyle in the next few years to salvage whatever is left of my hands.

I’ve decided to go part-time vegetarian frankly because I have enough of seeing dead animals on plates. I’ve been eating meat sparingly but have yet to incorporate more greens to my diet.

I joined a “gym” across the street from my work. They do boot camp style workouts. I’ve gone twice so far and it really kicks your butt. 100 jump-ropes, 25 squats, 25 push-ups… 3 times over. And that’s just the warm-up! I’m sure in a few months I’ll look back at this and think, aww geez I was such a wimp. But for now, I am sore everywhere.

Attitude
In general, I feel pretty good about myself. I’ve found my groove so to speak. I prefer to focus on the good things so that I never feel bad about who I am and the choices I’ve made. I’d like to keep living with positive energy throughout the next year (and all my life really) since it really works!

Definite Goals for the Next 6 Months
1. Stabilize a source of supplementary passive income
Domain and Hosting Reseller:
– redesign my reseller site so it’s more user-friendly and professional
– advertise in local publications
Manage my investments closely:
– Evaluate my 401k portfolio
– Evaluate the stocks in my primary investment account portfolio
– Research 10 more potential stocks

2. Develop an expertise and reputation for Open Book Finance
– attend the Great Games of Business in May
– build a website dedicated to OBF
– read more OBF books and post on above website

3. Go to the Philippines in the summer/fall to help my family move into a new house

4. Keep in touch regularly with friends who are far away
- Email ICA friends, grad school friends
- Message friends on Facebook?
- Look up friends in the area when I travel

5. Blog every other day (to remind myself how good life can be and to practice my writing skills)

6. Integrate K more into my life
– Invite him to Christmas with my family
– Take him to visit my extended family when he’s in Michigan